Individuals with ASD, Sexuality and Sexuality Education: What You Need to Know and Probably Don't becomes clinically important the moment a team has to turn good intentions into reliable action inside clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. For this course, the practical stakes show up in skills that remain meaningful when school supports disappear and adult expectations change, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via UK Society For Behaviour Analysts
Take This Course →Including ethics, supervision, and topics like this one. New live CEU every Wednesday.
Join Free →It goes without saying that individuals with ASD are sexual beings. Unfortunately, the biological, physiological and behavioral aspects of human sexuality remain significantly under-researched aspects of day to day living. Not surprisingly, there is even less research when it comes to sexuality and individuals on the autism spectrum. This knowledge gap, when added to that the social, cultural, religious and legal restrictions that often govern the display sexual behavior, results in an area of intervention about which we have limited evidence-based information as to 1) the content of instruction in sex education, 2) the process of instruction or intervention in sex education, 3) the timing of intervention in sex education or, 4) the development of effective interventions to prevent sexual abuse. This workshop will provide an overview of the many of challenges associated with sexuality and sexuality education in ASD and provide recommendations as to the role individuals with autism, their families, behavior analysts and other professionals who support them need to play in this complex and important area of adult life. Learning Objectives Upon completion of this event, participants will be able to: · Discuss why the field of ABA is particularly well suited to address the challenges associated with sexuality education in ASD · Discuss a minimum of three challenges to effective sexuality education in ASD · Discuss some of the recent research on gender identity and ASD · Discuss the importance of developing sexual safety skills in individuals starting in preschool · Understand the role discrimination training has in the development of appropriate behaviour in this area
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | General |
Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., is the Executive Director of the EPIC Programs in Paramus, NJ. Dr. Gerhardt has over 40 years of experience utilizing the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in support of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders in educational, employment, residential, and community-based settings. He has authored or edited several publications, including “Make it Meaningful: Creating Programs that Matter into Adulthood for Learners with Autism Spectrum and Related Disorders“ (Make it Meaningful Press, 2024) with Dr. Shanna Bahry, “Clinician’s Guide to Sexuality and Autism” (Academic Press, 2024) with Drs. Jessica Cauchi, Mary Jane Weiss, and Justin Leaf and “The Handbook of Quality of Life for Individuals with ASD” (Springer, 2022), on which he is a co-editor. He has presented nationally and internationally on these and related topics. Dr. Gerhardt serves as Co-Chairman of the Scientific Council for the Organization for Autism Research and is on numerous professional advisory boards, including the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He serves as Affiliate Faculty in the Institute for Applied Behavioral Science at Endicott College. Dr. Gerhardt received his doctorate from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey’s Graduate School of Education.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
You earn CEUs from a dozen different places. Upload any certificate — from here, your employer, conferences, wherever — and always know exactly where you stand. Learning, Ethics, Supervision, all handled.
No credit card required. Cancel anytime.
All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.